Setback for USPS Flats Sequencing System

The Flats Sequencing System is costing the USPS more than it’s saving, information submitted by USPS this week indicates. USPS’s response to a question from the Postal Regulatory Commission showed that FSS has pushed up the costs of mail processing far more than it has decreased delivery costs. USPS invested more than $1 billion in the huge FSS machines to automate the labor-intensive process of handling catalogs, magazines, and other flat mail, but so far the results have been mixed at best. Meanwhile, the agency continues to seek special rate increases on some types of flat mail